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H. H.- TIMKEN. CUP FOR ROLLER BEARINGS AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME. APPLICATION FILED APR. I5. 1918. N v 1,326,22% Patented Dec. 30,1919.

HENRY H. TIMKEN, or CANTON, 01110.

CUP FOR ROLLER-BEARINGS AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19119.

Application filed April 15, 1918. Serial No. 228,592.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it'known that I, HENRY H. TIMKEN, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident facturing cups for conical roller bearings.

Heretofore, the cup has been an expensive item in themanufacture of roller bearings, because ofit involving so much skilled work, so much waste of material-and so much loss of product due to inaccuracies and distortions occasioned by heat treatment or by insufiiciently accurate workmanship.

The principal objects of the present invention are to simplify the process of manufacturing conical bearing cups, to reduce the cost of manufacture, and to minimize the danger of distortion in the heat treatment.

In the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification, and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur.

Figure 1 is an end view of a cylindrical tube constituting the stock from which the bearing cup is formed;

Fig. 2 is a side 'view of thetube, with dotted lines indicating where sections or rings are to be cut therefrom;

Fig. 3 is a side view of one of said sections or rings;

Fig. 4 is ,a vertical sectional view of the die with the section or ring in initial position therein and with the punch shown in side elevation and in ralsed position;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectlonal view through the die, punch, and cup or ring showingthe punch at the downward limit of its stroke; r

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a finished cup or ring of uniform thickness; I t

Fig. 7 is a vertical section of a cup or ring wherein the inclination" of the inner surface is greater than the inclination of the outer surface;

F igs; 8 to 12, inclusive, illustrate various stages of manufacture of a bearing cup out of a fiat sheet.

Fi 8 is a cross-sectional detall of a sheet meta blank used as a stock for the manufacture of a bearing cup;

Fig. 9 is a cross-section of said blank after the completion of the drawing operation thereon;

I Fig. 10 is a similar view of the partially completed cup after the bottom'has been punched therefrom;

Fig. 11 is a similar view showing the cup with its upper edge trimmed; and

Fig. 12 shows the cup with its lower edge trimmed.

Heretofore, it has been the common pract1ce in the manufacture of conical bearing cups to start with a suitable blank, bore out the interior thereof, andwork the inner surface to the desired shape, harden the same by proper heat treatment, and then finish I by grinding. A common result of the heat treatment, under the "old process was to warp or distort the cup so much that the grinding operation would entirely grind away considerable areas of the hardened surface; in fact, the distortion would sometimes be so great as to necessitate the scrapping of the cup. I

According to the present invention, it is preferable to start with a seamless tube A of drawn steel of cylindrical section. This tube is cut into short lengths or rings A of approximately the length of the finished cup, or a little less. Both the inner and the outer surfaces of this ring are made approximately cylindrical and concentric so as to have a wall of even thickness throughout. In order to obtain accuracy'and concentricity of the innersurface at small expense, it is preferred to ream out the interior of the ring or short length of the tube to a diameter very slightly less than required and then simply finish the same by broaching in a press.

At this stage of manufacture, the mug A is a cylinder; and the next operation Is to convert this cylinder into a true conical cup with its inner and outer surfaces concentrlc. This result can be accomplished either by expansion or by contraction of the cylinder, the latter being preferred. For the purpose vof contracting the cylinder into a cone, the

, cups in the usual emu cone at the bottom. of the functional surface of the die, by which is meant so much of the surface as the ring wins against.

Mounted on or integral with the plunger D, which applies the force to the end of the ring, is a mandrel 3 arranged in axial aline ment with the die and whose exterior surface is a cone of the size and inclination of the interior of the finished cup. When the ring A is placed in the die and pressure applied thereto by means of the plunger, the effect is to force the ring inwardly of the die. This operation contracts the diameter of so much of the ring as comes in contact with the inner surface of the die, so as to conform the outer surface of the ring to the inner surface of the die; and at the same time, the inner surface of the ring is made to conform to the outer face of the mandrel. The cup is loosened from the die by a suitable knockout E. When the surface of the mandrel has the same inclination'as the inner surface of the die, the effect of this operation is to convert v the cylindrical ring of uniform thickness into acone A of the required size and shape and of even thickness throughout as illustrated in Fig. 6. But, if the inclination of the surface of the mandrel is different from the inclination of the inner surface of the die, the metal will be forced to fill up the annular space between the mandrel and the die so as to produce a cup A whose inner surface conforms to the inclination of the mandrel and whose outer surface conforms to the inclination of the die as illustrated in Fig. 7 In either case, the surfaces of the cup are accurately enough .finished to make it unnecessary to do further Work on them before hardening or-carbonizing. The cup is now ready for such minoror incidental operations as .radiusing or rounding the inner edges and chamfering or otherwise fitting the end for cooperation with other members; but such operations do not form part of this invention.

' The next step is to carboniz'e the cones or manner or submit them to any of the usual heat treatments for the purpose of hardenin them. As these conic-a]. cups are of circu ar section and have walls of even thickness throughout or walls whose thickness varies quitegradually, the tendency is for them-to distort very little, if.any, during the heat treatment, and the form of the cup makes it a simple matter to correct minor irregularities arising from warping.

ing 0 Consequently, there is practically no loss of the product due to the heat treatment, and very. little, if any, occasion to grind the hardened surface. In other words, the grinderation heretofore-commonly required may e dispensed with entirely. the form of the cups allows diflferent sizes to be nested during the heat treatment and thereby effects considerable saving. This Besides,

asagna capacity for nesting also efl'ects an economy in storing and shipping.

The principal advantage in. contracting the ring, rather than expanding it, is that the contraction avoids the severe tensile stress that might disrupt the wall. the operation of the contracting is better adapted for rectifying any unevenness in the thickness of the wall and it tends to make the metal more compact.

While it is preferable to start with cylindrical tubing A, it is racticable to start with a solid blank or wlth a fiat strip B-of metal. It is preferable to accurately finish both surfaces of the fiat strip. The blank is then cut fromthe strip and placed in a forming die and drawn into the form of a conical cup B The bottom of the cup is then punched out forming a cone 3?, as illustrated in Fig. 10. The top of the cone B (see Fig. 11) andthe. bottom of the cone-B (see' Fig. 12) are then trimmed to produce the required dimensions for the finished cup. The conical cup is then hardened and, if a very highly finished surface is required, it may be slightly ground also. On account of the form of the cup, thereis not likel to be any considerable distortion caused y the heat treatment.

WVhat I claim is:

1. The process of making conical cups for roller bearings which consists in forming cylindrical rings, then die-shapin said rings into conical cups and then comp eting said cups by suitable heat treatment to harden the same without other finishing after heat treatment.

2. The process of making conical cups for roller bearings which consists in forming a cylindrical ring,- die-shaping said ring into a conical cup of lessdiameter than said cylindrical ring and then completing said cup by suitable heat treatment to harden the same without other finishing.

3. The process of makin conical cups for roller bearings which consists in forming. a. cylindrical ring, die-shaping said rin into a conical cup of less diameter than sai cyli'n drical ring, and then completing said cup by suitable heat treatment to harden the same without other finishing.

4. The process of making conical cups for roller bearings which conslsts in forminga cylindrical ring, conical cup, completing said cup by. suitable heat treatment to harden the same, and then Besides,

die-shaping said ring to a finishing by grinding or other suitable.

ishing process.

5. The process of making conical cups for I formingdie-shaping said rings into 7 roller bearings which consists in forming cylindrical rings of approximately even thickness, die-shaping said rings to conical cups with walls of even thickness, and then completing said cups by suitable heat treatment to harden the same without other finishing after heat treatment.

7. The process of making cups for roller bearings which consists in cylindrically reaming the inside of a piece of cylindrical metal tubing and finishing the outside concentric therewith, and then forcing said piece endwise into a tapering die whereby a conical on is formed with smooth and densified sur ace.

8. The process of making cups for roller bearings which consists in cylindrically reaming the inside of a piece of cylindrical metal tubing and finishing the outside concentric therewith, forcing said piece endwise into a tapering die, whereby a conical cup is formed with smooth and densified surface, and then completing said cup by suitable heat treatment to harden the same without other finishing operation.

9. The process of making cups for roller bearings which consists in reaming and broaching the inside of a piece of cylindrical metal tube, finishing the outside concentric therewith, forcing said piece endwise into a taper (lie whereby a conical cup is formed With-a smooth and densified surface, heat treating said cup and completing said cup by removing by any suitable treatment the bur left on the ends of the cup after the die-shaping operation.

10. As a new article of manufacture, a conical cup for roller bearings resulting from the contraction of a finished ring by movement endwise in a suitable contracting mandrel.

11. As a new article of manufacture, a conical cup for roller bearings resulting from the contraction of a finished cylinder of even thickness by movement endwise in a contracting mandrel.

'12. As a new article of manufacture, a conical cup for roller bearin s, resulting from the' contraction of a finis ed cylinder of even thickness by movement endwise in a contracting mandrel, said product being hardened but not ground.

Signed at Canton, Ohio, this 10th day of April, 1918.

HENRY H. TIMKEN. 

